Need advise on swapping tires with spoked wheels

[OoPEZoO]

One of my buddies, who is pretty new to motorcycles, gave me a call last night for some advise. His bike (Honda Shadow 750) is in need of tires for it to pass inspection. Apparently, he just about fell over when he got a quote from the local dealership to get the work done. To make a long story short, he called me to ask what his options were......I told him to forget the dealership and to come over to my place and I would teach him how to swap his own tires using my trusty HF changer and Mojo Lever. The only detail I forgot about was that his bike has spokes and tubes. I've only ever done the tubeless tires on my RT.

 

Is there anything I need to watch out for or should be aware of before I go ahead and make the plans for him to stop by? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[mrduck]

An old offroader trick-put a small amount of air in the tube first-just enough to give it some shape.Put one side of the tire on first then install the tube then the other side.Start opposite of the valve stem and be careful!

[OoPEZoO]

An old offroader trick-put a small amount of air in the tube first-just enough to give it some shape.Put one side of the tire on first then install the tube then the other side.Start opposite of the valve stem and be careful!

 

Thats pretty much what I had read from random internet searching. Thanks!

[T__]

One of my buddies, who is pretty new to motorcycles, gave me a call last night for some advise. His bike (Honda Shadow 750) is in need of tires for it to pass inspection. Apparently, he just about fell over when he got a quote from the local dealership to get the work done. To make a long story short, he called me to ask what his options were......I told him to forget the dealership and to come over to my place and I would teach him how to swap his own tires using my trusty HF changer and Mojo Lever. The only detail I forgot about was that his bike has spokes and tubes. I've only ever done the tubeless tires on my RT.

 

Is there anything I need to watch out for or should be aware of before I go ahead and make the plans for him to stop by? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Keith, plenty to watch out for.. Pinched tubes,, tire iron holes in the tubes,, tube fill valve positioning so it doesn’t pull into the tire when filled.. Did I mention PINCHED INNER TUBES!!

 

Actually the tires will mount much easier than the tubeless type but it is real easy to poke a hole in the tube if not really careful.. As mentioned above a little air in them will help & make darn sure you keep the tube from getting snagged between the tire bead & the inner rim when installing the tire..

 

When mounted add a little air then let it out (I do this twice) as that can allow the inner tube to work the folds & wrinkles out & inflate evenly..

 

Make sure there isn’t any stones or sharp dirt knocked in between the tire & tube in the mounting process..

 

Not real difficult just be careful with the tire irons...

 

Twisty

[OoPEZoO]

Keith, plenty to watch out for.. Pinched tubes,, tire iron holes in the tubes,, tube fill valve positioning so it doesn’t pull into the tire when filled.. Did I mention PINCHED INNER TUBES!!

 

Actually the tires will mount much easier than the tubeless type but it is real easy to poke a hole in the tube if not really careful.. As mentioned above a little air in them will help & make darn sure you keep the tube from getting snagged between the tire bead & the inner rim when installing the tire..

 

When mounted add a little air then let it out (I do this twice) as that can allow the inner tube to work the folds & wrinkles out & inflate evenly..

 

Make sure there isn’t any stones or sharp dirt knocked in between the tire & tube in the mounting process..

 

Not real difficult just be careful with the tire irons...

 

Twisty

 

I don't use tire irons, so I'm not so much worried about puncturing the new tubes. I was mainly concerned with aligning the valve stems and such. So just out of curiosity......does a tubed tire still make the loud POP POP sounds when you seat the beads on the rim, or is it less violent because the tube is responsible for holding the air instead of the tire?

[stevej]

Something I do with the small dirt bikes I have is put a small amount of baby powder on the tube, makes them slid in better and the valve stem is easier to place.

[T__]

Keith, plenty to watch out for.. Pinched tubes,, tire iron holes in the tubes,, tube fill valve positioning so it doesn’t pull into the tire when filled.. Did I mention PINCHED INNER TUBES!!

 

Actually the tires will mount much easier than the tubeless type but it is real easy to poke a hole in the tube if not really careful.. As mentioned above a little air in them will help & make darn sure you keep the tube from getting snagged between the tire bead & the inner rim when installing the tire..

 

When mounted add a little air then let it out (I do this twice) as that can allow the inner tube to work the folds & wrinkles out & inflate evenly..

 

Make sure there isn’t any stones or sharp dirt knocked in between the tire & tube in the mounting process..

 

Not real difficult just be careful with the tire irons...

 

Twisty

 

I don't use tire irons, so I'm not so much worried about puncturing the new tubes. I was mainly concerned with aligning the valve stems and such. So just out of curiosity......does a tubed tire still make the loud POP POP sounds when you seat the beads on the rim, or is it less violent because the tube is responsible for holding the air instead of the tire?

 

Keith, depends on the rim construction.. Most inner tube type rims are not safety rims so you get a nice easy soft tire bead seating.. If the rim is a safety rim with a depressed seating area & the tire is a tight fit it could pop when seating..

 

On the tube valve stem? I usually seat one side of the tire,, then install the tube & put a little air in it.. At that time I will usually install a small washer (or rubber grommet) on the valve stem that is held on with the stem cap.. That keeps the stem from accidentally pulling back through the rim hole while seating the other side of the tire.

 

Twisty

[flyingreg]

Something I do with the small dirt bikes I have is put a small amount of baby powder on the tube, makes them slid in better and the valve stem is easier to place.

+1 on using talc. Things will move along easier with a little talc thrown on the tube. And make sure the rubber liner in the wheel is in good serviceable condition.

[notacop]

As a master of the pinched tube, I concur with the others. Blow up the tube first, talc what you can and double -triple check to be sure ya'll don't have a chunk of the tube between the tire and rim.

Most of the tube type tires are more flexible that the tubeless except Dunlops, hard as a carp!

Make sure the valve is straight and still use soap to lube the bead. Beads are happy when they are lubed .

[OoPEZoO]

Thanks guys......it looks like we'll be giving it whirl sometime this weekend. We'll be replacing both sprockets, the chain, and both tires. It should be fun.......I'm glad to see a few of my friends taking an interest in motorcycles and actually wanting to learn how to work on it as well. There is hope

[russell_bynum]

I suggest starting the process with a tube patch kit ready to go just in case. Maybe it's just because I'm a complete and total buffoon when it comes to this sort of thing, but I wound up with tubes that had more holes than the PGA Tour the first time I tried it.

 

The patch kits are exactly he same as what you'd use for a bicycle, so any old bicycle tube patch kit will work. But it would suck to have your friend come over, get halfway into it, puncture a tube, and it's 10pm on Saturday and nobody is open.